Christian Claudio's Autobiography

CHRISTIAN CLAUDIO’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY

On January 15, 1991, I, Christian Claudio, entered
the New York Criminal Justice system. I sat alone inside a 6x9 prison cell with
37 years remaining on my sentence. There I sat inside my prison cell with the
weight of the world upon my shoulders. I had one million and one questions
racing through my mind, and this was only the beginning. This was the place I
now called home until I was released 15 years later.

I was at one time one of the most
powerful Latin King in New York City. I founded the Almighty Latin King Nation on RikersIsland,
controlling over 14,000 prisoners as “Supreme Crown.” I was a drug-lord, a criminal, a man who had
been the subject of numerous homicide investigations and who had been convicted
of Conspiracy to Commit Murder in the Second Degree. Before being arrested, I had been operating a
major drug network that expanded into all five boroughs of New
York City, into Long Island and upstate New
York, and eventually into numerous states throughout the U.S. I was dangerous, I was powerful, and I knew
it.

I was born in the Carver Projects in Spanish Harlem,
an area known for its poverty and drug-abuse.
It was a tough neighborhood, yet I somehow managed to stay a “good kid”
for a time. As I grew up, however, I
gradually became enmeshed into the street culture. Soon, I became a regular user of
cocaine. As I recalled in a recent
interview, it was all an attempt to fit in – “You wanna do what the cool kids
are doing.” I developed a strong-willed,
independent character. Looking back, I now
describe myself as being “more twisted than a plate of spaghetti.” Yet my downward spiral had only begun.

In an effort to help fund my drug habits, I started
dealing, but in the process, I discovered that my addiction for making money
superseded my desire to get high. Money
became my God, and I learned an important principle: “You don’t get high on
your own supply.” With this rule of
thumb, I soon became one of New York’s
largest drug dealers. Everything seemed
to be working according to plan, and I eventually became so successful that I
quit school. College just didn’t seem
necessary anymore because I was making more money than Wall Street executives
were making! High on cash and confident
in my abilities, I moved to the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx
where I got my first taste of organized crime with the Italian Mafia. My reputation as a criminal increased; but I
managed to avoid arrest by constantly bouncing from place to place and using
different aliases.

In 1989, my heydays as a drug-lord
abruptly ended when NYPD Det. Sgt. Jimmy Peterson arrested me for dealing drugs
to an undercover DEA agent. Pending my
up-coming trial, I was sent to RikersIsland, the largest jail facility in America. To me, going to jail was like entering a
whole “nother world.”

It was on RikersIsland that I first learned about the
Almighty Latin King Nation, a violent gang that originated in the streets of Chicago in the
1940s. When the gang first started, it
was nothing more than a club fostering Puerto Rican pride and culture, but by
the 1960s, the Latin Kings had evolved into a dangerous gang known for drugs,
racketeering, murder, and other violent crimes.
It soon spread to the East Coast where a man called Luis Felipe (a.k.a.
“King Blood” – who is now serving a federal sentence of Life-without-parole)
firmly established the gang’s presence in New
York City.
Today, the Almighty Latin King Nation is one of the most well-organized
and violent gangs in the country. In
1989, however, the Latin Kings were just beginning to creep into New York City’s prison
system. I had heard about their
reputation, but didn’t know much else.

During this period, I was being
charged with an A-1 felony, the most serious charge a criminal can face in New YorkState.
Eventually my charges were reduced and Judge Sterling Johnson Jr. gave me
only two to four years in a prison upstate.
I got off easy this time, but I had other crimes in my past that would
eventually catch up with me.

While upstate, I dove headfirst
into the Latin King culture. The gang
had a strange allure to me, for it provided a source of stability and support
where I had none. In my mind, it was
like an “extended family.” I immediately
got involved in the gang hierarchy, and when I was shipped back to RikersIsland
in 1991 to face other charges, I ran into “King Blood” himself. King Blood authorized me to establish the
Latin Kings on RikersIsland.

Using my incredible leadership and
networking abilities, I soon declared myself “Supreme Crown” over the entire
prison system. I was overseeing about
14,000 prisoners on RikersIsland. I translated the Latin King indoctrination
program into Spanish and began distributing the lessons throughout the
jails. I developed numerous
relationships with correction officers and prison officials, exploiting them
for my own gain. Even my violent
behavior worked to my advantage, for every time I misbehaved, I was reassigned
to another section of the prison. I was
always bouncing around. I never lasted
in a housing unit more than a month, sometimes a day, sometimes just a couple
of hours…just because I was really stressed out, really violent. This allowed me to exert my authority as
“Supreme Crown” over almost every section of the prison, firmly securing Latin
King dominance.

In 1991, I was rearrested and
charged with attempted murder in the 2nd degree, conspiracy to
commit Murder in the 2nd degree, and possession of a weapon in the 2nd
degree. I was also being investigated
for about twenty other homicides.
Furthermore, just when things seemed like they couldn’t get any worse, I
received devastating news. My fiancé had
left me for another man. It was a major
blow – something I had never expected.
With nothing and no one to turn to, I began contemplating suicide. I felt alone, by myself. I’d always prided myself on my strength, my
contacts, but I couldn’t do anything. I
couldn’t make anything happen, and I wasn’t in control, and I was just so
desperate, and I just wanted to escape everything. I just wanted to end it all.

I went to trial and lost. As a
result I was sentenced to 37 years in prison for my crimes. It was hard to accept, but I had to stay
focused. The reality of my situation
also caused me to start seeing things very differently. I knew I had to change,
and it had to start right away. So the first thing I did was step down from my
position as supreme crown and then leave the Latin Kings forever. I was certain
that the Latin Kings would want me dead when they heard of my exodus. Many of them though had great respect for me
and I was the one who recruited them in, so as a result no action was taken
against me. As I matured I began counseling and educating gang members by
sharing and exposing the dangers of gang life.
Everyone saw the miraculous transformation that took place in my life,
and many wanted to know more. Correction
Officers began approaching me encouraging me to continue my efforts in trying
to reach the gang members; prisoners abandoned their gangs; and my entire
family abandoned the streets and went on to become productive members of
society. Even my old driver, back from my
days as a drug-lord, abandoned the streets to also become an upstanding citizen. When Sergeant Peterson, the man who arrested me
in 1989, heard that I had also turned my life around, he could not believe
it. “I’m a cop,” he said, “and cops
pretty much don’t believe anything.” But
when he visited me and saw with his own eyes how my life had changed, he was
amazed. Everywhere I went, I was talking
to prison gang members, educating them about the realities of gang life, and
lives were being changed.

I spent the next several years of my
life committed and dedicated to reaching and educating fellow inmates. Despite the improbability, I still held onto
a lingering hope that maybe, one day, I would be released from prison. Either way, I would accept whatever the
outcome was. Nearly three years later, on September 1, 2005, after serving only
fifteen years of my sentence, the impossible occurred. I was released on parole.

Retired Det. Sgt. Jimmy Peterson,
who is now good friends with me, knows first-hand that my story is far from
typical: “A lot of people, when they go
to jail, their experience is so horrendous that they just become more
bitter.” But I am the radical
exception. I never gave up hope and
continued to fight for my freedom. “Everybody deserves a second chance,”
comments Peterson, “Chris has a second chance to do something positive with his
life, and I think he’s taking advantage of that.” Former Detective Peterson goes on to say: “He’s really truly passionate about what he
says and wants to do . . . and when you’re passionate about something, nothing
can stop you.”

Upon my release, I committed myself
to reaching and educating our youth.
Those same skills that served me so well on the streets are now being
used for a greater purpose. In
particular, I have a heart for gangs and for the kids swallowed up by them
every day. We have to start doing something. If we can reach and rescue our youth one at a
time, then our schools and community will become safer and more productive. I am the founder of a not-for-profit
organization, “Throggs Neck – La Famiglia”.
The organization focuses on reaching our troubled youth by doing anti-gang
& anti-bullying intervention, prevention, and awareness. I also host
anti-gang workshops, crisis intervention workshops, hospital as well as
community outreaches, and a thriving prison outreach. I have also developed programs that address
the rising gang & bullying problems within our schools.